Never been to the Mornington Peninsula so jumped on board with a hire car with @Loraine and @Richard for a quick drive south to join their friend @John to take in the sights.
Travelled in absolute comfort in a 6 seater KIA Carnival and with the navigation on sailed through the Melbourne suburbs and hugged the coastline. Shoulder to shoulder Federation homes, squeezed on small blocks - all sporting the ubiquitous rose bush in full bloom - soon gave way to the sprawling modern glass and brick two storey beach homes. White sand (well maybe yellow) and an increasingly turquoise blue of Phillip Bay water and even the bright colours of the beach boxes, didn’t provide much temptation for a dip as we travelled through windy conditions, the occasional shower and the constant companion of scudding low cloud cover.
Opted to not stop on the way out, thinking it made more sense to adjust the itinerary on the homeward journey.
@John was the perfect host and took us for a stroll in Sorrento to get the feel of the “town” and to stop at the Vanilla Slice House to buy the best slice in Australia! Might need to phone a friend or two to lock down that verdict.
they were big ... saving for later
Next stop was the “back beach” to get an idea of the wildness of Bass Strait. The rain came down, the wind whipped at our hair and the lone remnant of a “stack” was the perfect backdrop for our quick visit. Not really a spot today for a “charmed” walk along the beach or a picnic on the seashore. Definitely just a photo shoot to prove we were there.
Enjoyed lunch, with sweeping views across the bay, with the faint view of Melbourne CBD skyline in the historic Sorrento Hotel.
Followed this with an attempt to get as far as we could on the pointy bit of the Peninsular, but we’re too time poor to complete the 1.8 km walk and settled for visit to the Port Nepean Quarantine Station. The abandoned facilities are set up so that tourists are able to experience the visit as a self guided exercise. Interesting reading to learn of the “welcome” to Australia that visitors received. We spent the short amount of time that we had in the Foul Room - the fumigation centre - where newcomers left all their belongings to be boiled (and often ruined) before they proceeded to the Wash House to be showered in formaldehyde.
We were locked in for a little while because a torrential downpour, lasting all of 3 minutes, battered the roof. It was bizarre. Over before you had time to realise it had started! But that was our queue to run the gauntlet of the nesting and swooping plovers and return to the car.
Did the calculations for the trip home and felt we had plenty of time to get the vehicle back for the 5 pm deadline for the close of the car rental place. Somehow manage to find the exact coffee shop @John had described in Rye (on the corner, next to white fish and chip shop) and settled down to try the “best vanilla slice.” It was up there, the custard filling was excellent - but we did mark it down because it did not have any of the buttery pink icing.
Still thought we were tracking well - until the GPS started to jump out because there was an accident on the freeway. Our 45 minute buffer on the return journey was disappearing before our eyes. It was stressful and with heightened anxiety we did have a few backstreet drivers helping with the navigation - especially when the driver was confused by selecting a middle lane - when in doubt, just use the island … that seemed to work. With @LoRi on petroleum duty, we dashed to the depot to update the staffer that we were here, and the KIA turned into the gates at exactly 4.59. Talk about cutting in fine.
Took an UBER back to the port and were so relieved that we were ushered through. No line up today - in fact, no port security check at all bizarre, after yesterday’s efforts. Do need someone to explain that.
I went solo to the show while the others set themselves up in Tiger Masala for some Indian curries. So hot - don't think there was enough yoghurt and lime on board to cure the fire in my mouth - but @Mac was in curry heaven. We do like this spot because it is a little quieter and not so crowded. Could enjoy conversation, recaps and laughs. Even got a sunset tonight.
A little late night wander around the ship -and a visit to the "explicit" comedy show .... hmm, language and degrading quips seemed to be the theme. Not clever, witty style we like .. but there were laughs so appealed to some.
Very few seats in the popular venues - understandable, given the Port Authority rep had informed us this was the hip, young crowd's party boat. These hip, young, party animals were more than hapy to round out the evening admiring the origami towel animal in our cabin. Mind you the others did hit the pool deck for a bit of a rage. Well done them ...
PS : Empathy shot
No comments:
Post a Comment